Dark citizen science: Reviving old, lost, and overlooked citizen science records
Albee E, Benz S, Berry M, Cole-Will R, MacKenzie CM, Miller-Rushing A, Mittelhauser G, Webber H. 2015. Dark citizen science: Reviving old, lost, and overlooked citizen science records. Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park
From the abstract: "For years humans have made valuable observations about the world around them. Records of these observations, what we call “dark citizen science”, are often overlooked, but are invaluable resources in the study of how species, landscapes, and environmental conditions have changed over the past century or more. Acadia’s museum collection contains over one million items, including plant and animal specimens, photographs, reports, field notebooks, and maps. Libraries, historical societies, and colleges in the surrounding communities contain millions more. We have begun an ambitious project to digitize these specimens and records and make them freely available in an online database. To do so we are engaging volunteers to pull key data — species occurrences, abundance, and phenology — transcribing information into databases. One of the first projects has shown that the park lost nearly 20% of its flora over the past 100 years. We are working with researchers to use historical records and new field observations to understand why losses occurred and to identify species that are likely vulnerable to future environmental changes. Dark citizen science records provide critical data to protect our environment and also provide compelling personal stories that can engage the public in science and conservation."
- Type
- Poster
- Authors
- Albee, Emma; Benz, Seth; Berry, Mark; Cole-Will, Rebecca; MacKenzie, Caitlin; Miller-Rushing, Abraham; Mittelhauser, Glen; Webber, Hannah
- Date of Issue
- 2015-10-07
- Publisher
- Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park
- Units
- ACAD
- Keywords
- Education, Research & Studies